When President Trump ordered federal agencies to form teams to dismantle government regulations, the Transportation Department turned to people with deep industry ties.

One appointee had previously lobbied the department on behalf of American Airlines. Another held executive roles for several electric and hybrid car companies regulated by the department. A third was a lawyer who represented United Airlines in regulatory matters. Continue reading “Newspaper Prayers: Tuesday, August 8th”→

I live with the ability to have abundant varieties of food. That is not true of many in the world. Below are the statistics for fellow citizens of the world. I don’t relate well to numbers, but I can imagine the people I love living in the circumstances that are faced by millions of people. Certainly, the needy and vulnerable of the earth are worthy of our prayers.

NEW HAVEN — When Dave Mason left jail in October 2015 after his 14th criminal conviction, the odds were good that he would end up dead.

A man with a longtime heroin addiction, Mr. Mason was entering one of the deadliest windows for jailed users returning to the streets: the first two weeks after release, when they often make the mistake of returning to a dose their body can no longer handle.

Standing outside the New Haven Correctional Center, clutching his few belongings in a brown paper bag, Mr. Mason appeared precariously close to taking that path. His ride never showed up. He had no money, no contact with his family and nowhere to live. Continue reading “Newspaper Prayers: Friday, August 4th”→

(Note, I have only excerpts from this article. If you have access to the New York Times, it is worth your time to read the entire article.)

According to Genesis 1, in four days, God made the heavens, the earth and all the vegetation upon it. But four days after Anthony Scaramucci’s filthy tirade went public, Team Trump’s evangelical all-stars — pastors and prominent laity who hustle noisily around the Oval Office trying to find an amen corner — still had not figured out what to say. Continue reading “Newspaper Prayers: Thursday, August 3rd”→

(Note: if you have access to the New York Times, the pictures of the devastation are striking.)

Days after the Iraqi government officially declared victory over the Islamic State in Mosul in July, the fighting was far from over.

Roughly the size of a block in Manhattan, the last ISIS holdout of the Old City did not seem like the kind of place where anyone could still be alive after weeks of brutal combat. But a few such areas kept up the fight for days. And — horribly, amazingly — civilians were still being pulled out. Continue reading “Newspaper Prayers: Tuesday, August 1st”→

Headlines from the New York Times for Monday, July 31, 2017

(Note: This is a long and tragic article about the ill use of power and human suffering.)

KANANGA, Democratic Republic of Congo — They are everywhere. Here next to a house, where a woman is hanging clothes to dry. There in a field, where children are playing.

They are graves, filled with hundreds of bodies.

In the town of Nganza, in the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the dead have been decomposing for months. Now it may be too late to identify them. The ground that covers them has turned almost smooth again. The only sign that there are people buried here are the government soldiers in red berets and aviator sunglasses, posted nearby with AK-47s. Continue reading “Newspaper Prayers: Monday, July 31st”→